STGCC 2012: Mark Out Your Calendar For These Guests!

The special blend of East and West that Red Dot Island has become well-known for, continues this year at the Singapore Toy, Games and Comic Convention with today's first announcement of guests and special booth exhibitors.

Red Dot Diva noted that fan favourites like Tokidoki's Simone Legno and Tadaaki Jacky Dosai of Cosmode will be back for this year's convention.

Vocaloids Creative band Zaneeds will also be returning to the convention, which should keep anime-Nippon-esque fans quite happy.

For those, like Red Dot Diva, who indulge in more Western pop-culture and comics, there are not one .. but two Marks to look forward to!

SDCC 2012: Are You Ready to PARTY?

After walking the cavernous San Diego Convention Centre halls for hours (actually running would be more like it), tired out SDCC attendees usually decide to either crash on their beds at the end of the day, or quickly freshen up and camp out for the next day's events.

But for some "energizer bunny" type people, there are parties and more parties to go to!

Here are some of the parties that will be happening at this year's Comic-Con:

1. 38th Annual Comic-Con Masquerade Ball
Sat, July 14, 8:30 PM
Ballroom 20, San Diego Convention Center

This is an annual event and a key segment of Comic-Con itself. It is a talent competition specially for the folks who have spent days and months labouring on their costumes and skits.

ILM Singapore's VFX Puts The Smash Into "The Avengers"

Making gazillions of fanboys and fangirls all over the world squee with utter delight, Joss Whedon's fun take on Marvel's "The Avengers" movie has now crossed the hallowed USD 1 billion mark in the worldwide box office.

This would not have been possible, if there were no uniquely creative and hardworking VFX artists involved in various segments of the superhero ensemble film. For "The Avengers", the digital magic was done by ILM, the fore-runner of all things VFX!

Last Saturday at The Cathay, ILM Singapore hosted a VFX talk about "The Making of The Avengers" and special screening of the movie in 3D, to a group of polytechnic/ university students and faculty teachers as part of their drive to get more talent into Jedi Masters Program, an apprentice-training initiative.

VSIFF 2012: Not Short of the Good Stuff!

Funny how things something happen the way they do.

A stray invite for VSIFF 2012 (that is Very Short International Film Fest to the uninitiated) dropped into Red Dot Diva's colleague's email inbox one morning. And knowing that Red Dot Diva is quite the film buff, astute colleague promptly forwarded the invite and said, "This is something I know you'd like."

And that's how Red Dot Diva found herself at a comfy theatre in the Marina Bay/ Raffles Place area for the preview screening of VSIFF 2012 on 9 May. She didn't even know that such an auditorium existed in the financial district!

To give the invited guests a taste of the range of Very Short Films that were going to be screened on 12 and 13 May at Alliance Francaise Theatre, Selection A of both the International segment and Singapore segments were shown.

FCBD 2012: Store To Store - The Hunt for Free Comics!

FCBD at Kinokuniya

As most comic fans knew in advance about DC artists Nicola Scott and Ardian Syaf's store appearance at GnB Comics, visiting Rochor Centre early in the morning seemed to be the majority's FCBD strategy.

Red Dot Diva was actually torn between heading to Kinokuniya first and then down to GnB. But not knowing if one would be able to grab some time with Nicola and Ardian before their allotted signing sessions, became the primary decision-making factor. Also, she wasn't too keen to stay out the entire day for their later appearance at the Cathay.

(For Red Dot Diva's Nicola Scott experience at GnB - click here for the blog article!)

Most of the geeks also expected the larger book store, Kinokuniya to have been able to stock up more than ample stocks of comics. But unfortunately, when Red Dot Diva and a small group of comic fans were at the flagship Ngee Ann City store before 12pm, all the bundled packs for members (20 comics!! plus a box of Thor Heroclix) were GONE. :(

Major Disappoints.

FCBD 2012: Nicola Scott at GnB Comics

Yesterday's FCBD 2012 was one of those simply wonderful, geeky-fun days.

Even the Red Dot Island weather cooperated with this year's FCBD. It was not typically humid, with just the right mix of sunshine and cool breeze, making it perfect for a comic book hunt.

To kick-off FCBD 2012, Red Dot Diva dragged herself out of bed bright and early (although not as early as some, so she heard!!) at about 8 am. She stopped by at Bugis Junction's Toastbox for a much needed caffeine infusion with fellow geeks, Ryan (from Steel Reviews) and Melvin (a frequent contributor for HereBeGeeks), before they headed to GnB Comics nearby.

FCBD 2012: More Comic Book Geekery In Local Stores!

Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is approaching and more details have surfaced from this year's participating stores.

After a successful FCBD debut last year, Kinokuniya returns as one of the stores involved in this Saturday's events. And they have made a couple of cool announcements.

Firstly, privilege card members will be able to get their stack of free comics when they produce their membership card at the Kinokuniya's Orchard Road flagship store! (Don't be greedy, Red Dot Diva warns. One set for each member only!) Also, specially for members, there is a 20% discount going on for all comics purchased!

In addition, Kinokuniya has added a more family-friendly theme by inviting the local Star Wars 501st Legion for a store appearance. What better way to kickstart your children's geek cred than by getting them to meet Star Wars characters??

New to the FCBD fray this year is Paradigm Infinitum (PI) - the #1 Board & Tabletop Games store in Singapore! The shop is located at #03-01 of Midpoint Orchard, just a hop away from Kinokuniya. Head to PI to help them celebrate the soft launch of their new graphic novels section. They will be giving all store visitors 10 free comics! The freebies may not be the official FCBD comic releases but why would anyone turn down some cool comics for free?!?